Here are some rather recent films that I loved and seem particularly CFI friendly. The reviews are Netflix blurbs, not mine.

Babel
When an American couple (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) vacationing in Morocco fall victim to a random act of violence, a series of events unfolds across four countries that demonstrates both the necessity and impossibility of human communication. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu artfully weaves together three seemingly disparate stories of strangers in strange lands in this Oscar nominee for Best Picture and Golden Globe winner for Best Drama.

The Circle
Director Jafar Panahi’s portrait of the status of women in fundamentalist Iran is, by any stretch of the imagination, depressing. But just getting the film made was a major political feat, given Iran’s dogmatic view of women and unstable political climate. The fact that this film (made by a man) is sensitive to women’s plight sheds a ray of hope that, given time, things may gradually change.

City of God
Busca-Pe (Alexandre Rodrigues) lives in Cidade de Deus (City of God), a housing project reputed to be one of the most dangerous parts of otherwise magical Rio de Janeiro. He’s frightened he’ll end up like the countless others around him—troubled, violent or dead. But his saving grace is his photographer’s eye, through which the stories of several people who live in this forsaken “city” unfold. …

Evolution
Beginning with Darwin’s revolutionary theory, this eight-hour, seven-part PBS documentary series explores all facets of evolution, offering a groundbreaking and definitive view of the extraordinary impact the evolutionary process has had on our understanding of the world around us. Liam Neeson narrates.

The Life of Mammals
Naturalist David Attenborough hosts this fascinating documentary about the earth’s most diverse species, from the tiny pygmy shrew to the gargantuan blue whale. Humans—who are mammals, of course—also come under scrutiny in this series, which may be Attenborough’s finest.

Osama
This stunning film, the first to be made in a post-Taliban Afghanistan and inspired by a newspaper account read by director Siddiq Barmak, recounts the efforts of a family of women to survive under an oppressive regime. To eke out a meager living, they dress up their 12-year-old girl, Osama, as a boy so she can work. A talented cast of non-actors—including Marina Golbahari and Zubaida Sahar—adds integrity to the heartbreaking story.

Winged Migration
Amazing cinematography and gorgeous music fill this documentary-adventure created by French filmmakers Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debat and Jacques Perrin. Presented with almost no narration and filmed primarily from a bird’s perspective, this study of the lives and habits of migrating birds re-creates as nearly as possible the experiences of the birds themselves.

Re. Life of Mammals, I would nominate ALL of David Attenborough’s documentaries as best-in-category. He also has Blue Planet about the ocean, Birds, Life in the Undergrowth about insects, and several others. Attenborough is the greatest, and the BBC camerawork is incredible.

Thanks very much for the link to Dangerous Knowledge. I watched it based on your suggestion. It was a compelling portrait of four great minds. What a shame that they deteriorated as such.

I didn’t much care for the idea that they deteriorated because of their brilliance. Nor did I like the suggestion that their work was “dangerous.” I am inclined to think that as high a percentage of police officers, desk clerks and shop attendants would have killed themselves over more trivial things.

Well, NOVA is usually quite good, and some of them have been done in concert with the BBC. Also used to have Scientific American Frontiers ... not sure where that one went. Alan Alda was a great host.

... and Cosmos, of course, the king of them all. As I wrote here several months ago, Neil deGrasse Tyson is now working with PBS on a series that promises to be a sort of Cosmos II. That is, it’ll be a many-part series about all of science. Something to look forward to, anyhow.

Hmm Cosmos II, eh? I don’t know if we even get PBS without a satellite link where I live :\ I’ll keep looking for it, though.

When was the last time the Discovery Channel did anything, I hate to say remotely good, but…. remotely good? I haven’t seen the Discovery Space channel or anything like that. Maybe that is where all the action is at.

Just to be clear, it won’t be called “Cosmos II”, but it’s supposed to be a similar sort of long-form series about all of science.

Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, Science Channel, all of them are real disappointments about 90% of the time. If you look around you can find stuff on cable from time to time, but it’s hard. PBS is a little better, or there’s the internet, or podcasts.